“Why have we adults…come to believe that the economic question is the true solution to the problem of human life?”
Dr. Maria Montessori from Spont. Act. In Ed., p.323
By Lee Havis
The Character Teaching (CT) project arose from my experiences with children facing extreme poverty, looking for a solution which would address the underlying cause of this condition. My long background in Montessori teaching convinced me to look beyond the superficial material nature of the problem, such as by giving only money or other material value, which would, at best, only create a short term benefit. Needed was a solution to address the faulty character development, which resulted in a negative adult life-style attitude of inferiority, defeat, weakness, and dependency on others. Following the guidance of Dr. Montessori’s approach of scientific observation, and her discovery of the possibility of “normalization” in young children, I looked for some practical means to restore the true normal character and moral development of poor, disadvantaged children, to meet their spiritual needs at the cause of the problem.
Spiritual Needs
“It is not enough to ensure for the child food, clothing and shelter; on the satisfaction of his more spiritual needs the progress of humanity depends – the creation indeed of a stronger and better humanity.” Dr. Maria Montessori from To Educate the Human Potential, p. 120
Looking at the initial experiences of Dr. Montessori in 1907, I recognized the solution to create an environment that would follow laws of nature to meet the spiritual developmental needs of children that they were lacking in conventional society. For example, observing each child as an unknown, but perfect, spiritual being, the approach is to create an environment that closely duplicates the perfect order of cosmic laws of nature. In this condition, any child, especially those suffering from extreme poverty and neglect, would readily change from their state of fear, shyness, disorder and inattention to a normal state of confidence, self-discipline, order, attention, peace, and perfect harmony with others. Dr. Montessori called this change of being a “normalization”, since her environment naturally supports the child’s return to a true NORMAL state of being in harmony with the eternal, infinite goodness and truth of laws of nature. Since she made this discovery in circumstances of extreme poverty that is so common today, I believed that a similar experiment could be duplicated now with similar positive results – especially with the knowledge of “true natural” Montessori teaching and a specific technology for putting this into practice with such confidence and skill.
Ideal Circumstances
“The circumstances which favored our first experiment were mainly these: (1) extreme poverty and a social condition of much difficulty…(2) parents of these children were illiterate… (3) the teachers were not professional teachers.” Dr. Maria Montessori from Education for a New World, p. 51-52
Dr. Montessori found that conditions of extreme poverty, were actually ideal for creating conditions favorable to her “new education”. Happily, these same conditions are present in great abundance now around the world and now, with the advanced knowledge of how to create this “new education”, there is actually a great opportunity for her revolutionary approach to success in a way that was never possible before. Of course, having these circumstances and the applicable “new education” knowledge is only the beginning point to bringing about the changes to true normal character development of children. Needed also are teachers and support for the application of natural laws to children, which can only come through a combination of elements in the environment that require the cooperation of quite a number of responsible, willing individuals in society.
Natural Laws
“There are natural laws which guide growth and formation, and the individual must follow these laws if he is to build up his character.” Dr. Maria Montessori from Absorbent Mind, p.218
Dr. Montessori created an environment ideal for her first group of poor children to develop their true normal character by observing them in harmony with the eternal, perfect laws of nature. By contrast, ordinary education and care of children blocks this natural development by imposing very many prejudices and adult character defects on children under the guise of “teaching”, “discipline” or even “love”. Creating the right conditions committed to these natural laws has therefore been difficult to achieve in practice because it involves a type of pure scientific observation, which is outside the bounds of convention understanding that are controlled by “personality” and “culture”.
Sadly, Dr. Montessori did not clearly recognize this distinction between natural laws and conventional reality based on “personality” or “culture”. So, efforts to understand her ideal conditions of 1907 did not arise until 1979 with the founding of the International Montessori Society (IMS). Since then, however, it has been possible to view Montessori teaching in the framework of the “child” as the unknown spiritual being, and the “environment” consisting of everything around the child, consisting of adult personality, physical objects, and other children. Here, Montessori teaching then becomes a precise, scientific process of removing the detrimental influences in the environment around that “child” in a conscious, intentional manner that was never possible before. In 2003, I further consolidated a comprehensive technology for communicating this scientific approach to teachers with even greater ease and certainty. Armed with this new knowledge, even unprofessional teachers can therefore now easily learn to normalize the conditions for children in extreme poverty at a scale and in a manner that can achieve truly amazing results.
Normalize the Conditions
“Lack of character or defects of character disappear of themselves, without any need for preaching by grownups or for grownup examples. One does not need to threaten or cajole, but only to normalize the conditions under which the child lives.” Dr. Maria Montessori from Absorbent Mind p. 299
The CT project proposes to use the new IMS understanding of Montessori teaching, and the 2003 technology to train teachers to normalize the conditions of poor children within two basic components: (1) a formal model school for young children and (2) an informal daily tutoring program for poor working children in the open air. The formal model will duplicate the ideal circumstances for a group of 2-6 year old poor children as was Dr. Montessori’s first experiment in 1907. A single model center will focus training for teachers who will then set up many other local centers in each community and neighborhood where there is sufficient support and interest. Even Dr. Montessori realized the value and ease of her approach as applied to very poor children, such as in the type of informal tutoring which is the other component of the project.
Informal Tutoring
“If we want an easy experiment with sure success, we should go to work among poor children, offering them an environment which they don’t possess.” Dr. Maria Montessori from Education for a New World, p.52
The informal tutoring component of the CT project sets up the right normalizing conditions with poor children in the streets by establishing a short-term contract with each child based on the concept exchange of value. For this, the CT tutor offers to give a small amount of money to the child in exchange for a small period of time for the tutor to give a simple academic lesson presentation in some piece of work related to reading, writing or math. In this exchange, the child is given the money on AFTER the brief lesson presentation is done.
Each tutor is therefore equipped with a set of portable low-tech materials that duplicate those commercial ones that are commonly used in formal Montessori schools. Offering the money establishes the protocol basis of interest for the lesson presentation; and, withholding its payment until after the lesson assures an effective control of the environment. [NOTE: offering MONEY rather than some other commodity, especially at the initial meeting, is important, because this is likely what is the child’s true interest in the interaction]
At each instructional session, the CT tutors follow such protocols as Be friendly — get acquainted, recording the child’s name, age, residence and lesson presented in a notebook journal. This written data helps monitor and regulate the progress of each child’s learning, providing also a record to pay the tutors according to the number of session conducted. Repeating these sessions on a regular, frequent basis allows children to deeply experience the value of their time, to build up such positive character qualities as self-respect, trust, patience, integrity and persistent to task. The participating children then establish a more positive way of thinking about themselves and others, eventually bringing out higher character qualities in all areas of life.
Positive Incentives
The CT tutoring component also contemplates special incentives for children who successfully continue in the program. For example, after 10 sessions, children may receive their own notebook journal and writing instrument as well. They can also later qualify to receive clothing, text books, learning materials, and other useful items to encourage and acknowledge their commitment to progress and successful learning.
Obstacles to Operation
While the CT project is a simple, direct application of Montessori’s “new education”, it is yet difficult to initially understand because it is so novel and unconventional, and therefore challenges common prejudices about children, poverty, and human nature. For example, many relief and help organizations involved in eradicating poverty through better education typically resist the idea of any aspect of giving “money” to poor children, as if we a little would warp and distort their relationship with the staff workers and donors. In addition, in any poor culture, corruption and low morality is common in society, so teachers and staff must especially demonstrate their own good moral character to conduct the teaching as intended, especially as related to the giving and receiving of money. Therefore, primary supervisory staff must themselves maintain a high level of leadership to model good character, showing such qualities as personal integrity, commitment, and self-discipline in relating to all persons connected to the project.
Operational Steps
The CT project plans to proceed in sequential steps, beginning first with a training seminar and consultation visit to prepare an initial team of teachers for later full-scale project operation. This will require a letter of support from the pertinent government, designation of a local consultant board, and an initial funding sponsor. Based on the success of this initial visit, however, I believe the way forward from there will be easier to form a successful local CT organization and sufficient further funding to secure its full-scale operation for a period of several years.
Ultimately, the project aims to demonstrate the original normal character developing purpose of Montessori teaching, and thereby expand its operation in many other locations based on this initial success. In addition, this wider use of the IMS technology will encourage the use of this knowledge outside the CT project as well, leading to many other favorable results beyond its primary purpose to eradicate poverty and uplift good character development among the children, families and teachers who are most directly involved.